The Stepford Wives

After our trip to Yeovil we decided to wait until we'd had an offer on our house before we started looking in earnest. We'd hate to find something we loved only for it to be snapped up before we were in a position to make an offer.

The day after accepting the offer on our house we drove down to the Dorchester area to look at three properties that on paper at least – or actually online – looked just right. The first was in a little village set against a very steep hill with lovely views across a valley. But it was really too remote, being down very narrow lanes and the layout didn’t quite work for us. Finding out that there was barely a 1mb broadband connection was the final decider.

Next we went to see two houses in a modern purpose-built village about five miles north of Dorchester. The first house was at the north edge of the village and, standing outside, all we could hear was the breeze rustling in the trees and the birds twittering in the bushes. Peace and quiet. Lovely! The other house was on the far side of the village and had the same layout, although with a slightly larger garden, and was almost as peaceful.

We walked back through the village to the centre where there is one shop-cum-Post Office and a village hall. The whole village is incredibly tidy with beautifully manicured lawns and neat front gardens. It was a Saturday morning and there weren’t any children to be seen (or heard) except for a few very young ones in a small playground with their parents. It was quiet. Too quiet. In fact, it reminded me of the 1975 film The Stepford Wives and I expected to see identically dressed women to come out and start synchronised grass mowing (like one of the BBC ads). Ian reminded me that when we'd driven through here a few months ago (without stopping) I'd said I didn't like it and that I thought it was weird. I'm sure those who live there love it, but it's definitely not for me!

The rest of the afternoon we explored the other villages around Dorchester before returning home by which time we had both decided: Weymouth would be our next and final stop. Perhaps. Maybe…